When IHG introduced variable point pricing for U.S. & Europe one thing that reader Kirby noticed was the ability to use a free night certificate that is usually restricted to properties costing 40,000 points or less on properties costing more than 40,000 points with a surcharge. At the time it was showing available at properties: IC Willard, IC Montreal, and Kimpton Alexandria. The pricing seemed to fluctuate wildly, in some cases a 45,000 per night property would have an surcharge of $50 for 5,000 points and in other cases it was $65 for 20,000 points. This was backed up reader Hadley V. Baxendale who spoke to an IHG representative that stated IHG were going to introduce this surcharge as well.
At this stage we obviously don’t have any confirmation from IHG and it’s possible this was just a mistake with the rollout of dynamic award pricing, but I’d be surprised if that was the case.
